The week after the Paralympics was slightly lacking in glory after such an exciting summer, but - despite the setting in of Autumn - we at the Octopus Comms office have been enjoying looking fondly back at our favourite picture perfect moments of London 2012 Paralympics!

@jcpcameron : Having met David Weir a few years ago, I am a huge fan. An amazing athlete and a genuinely really nice bloke!

@philcorfan : Mine is being in the stadium to see Richard Whitehead overtake pretty much everyone to win the 200m. He then went properly nuts when celebrating as well, which is always nice.

@wonky_donky : I found the high jump one of the most incredible events of the games - the athletes defied belief, it was just amazing!

Another great choice from @wonky_donky - wheelchair rugby is a truly memorable sport: I don't think anyone would previously have associated 'brutal' with Paralympians, but that's what some of them were. I can't remember who it was, but it was well summed up by one competitor replying to a question about the bumps and scrapes with "when you've broken your neck, you don't worry about getting bashed - how much worse could it get?"

@MissBarry For me it has to be the moment David Weir crossed the line in the 5000m - I lost my voice and I burst with pride in the Olympic Stadium :)

There was lots of love in the room for this champion; @stevelspencer also chose this moment, saying 'David Weir winning 5,000m gold was one of my highlights. This pic captures the energy and outburst of emotion after years of hard work.'

Steve also captured the awe of the feats achieved in the Paralympics with these contributions - unbelievable!

The top choice for @zoebevis was this corker!

In fact, Jonnie turned out to be quite a favourite across the office:

@CrystalCJC 'Jonnie Peacock crossing the finishing line was favourite moment, both for his greatness and his hotness'

All the office revelled in this moment!

We also loved the star-studded Closing Ceremony...

@gg_hart London, take a bow! Great show to close off a fantastic Paralympics.

What a fortnight!

Do share you best memories of the Games with us below!

 

Having worked in several different sectors of PR I think I'm justified in saying I've paid my dues. From dancing with a rapping cow all day in a field, to nights in the office late enough to justify ordering breakfast… I've been there; written the pitch. But working on more taxing campaigns just makes it all the sweeter when such great projects comes along. Cue Cisco's BIG Awards.

When we began work on the British Innovation Gateway (BIG) campaign - Cisco's legacy piece as the Official Network Infrastructure Supporter of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games - we were clear on one point: we wanted to use Cisco's position as an industry leader to inspire, discover and nurture tech talent in the UK.

We live in a time of extraordinary technological advancement and outstanding innovation. But there have been grumbles about how few of the big ticket ideas come from the UK compared to our American pals across the pond. We're a clever bunch, and Britain's technology legacy is rich - the phone, the television, the WORLD WIDE WEB - but there seems to be a limit sometimes to the level we push ourselves to achieve. Tweetdeck, yes; Twitter, no. So what do we do to bridge this gap?

We set out to find the unsung heroes of the UK tech scene by launching a five year awards programme which tied into the wider BIG campaign. The Cisco team was clear on one point when we began planning the Cisco BIG Awards: a cash prize alone was not enough. Feedback from SMEs over the years indicated that money is all well and good, but without expert advice, mentoring and resources it will only carry you so far. So Cisco lined up some tremendous partners to help make the Cisco BIG Awards as beneficial to the winner as possible - Bird & Bird, DNX and even us here at Octopus will join Cisco to deliver legal, PR, digital and industry mentoring, in addition to the cash prize.

The level of entry - as clichéd as it may sound - was exceptional. This was compounded by Dragons' Den style presentations by the six finalists last night at Cisco House. There were some real 'oh I wish I'd thought of that' moments and the judging panel - which included our very own Octopus MD, Jon Lonsdale - had a hard task it must be said, but in the end three really stood out.

The winner in particular is AMAZING. Snap Fashion allows users to search for clothing items via a visual search engine - simply take a photograph of something you've seen or an item you own and the app will scan more than 110 UK fashion retailers to find a match. Impressive stuff.  Runners up included Digital Shadows, a clever cyber protection tool, and Six3, a very slick video messaging service.

It's been a pleasure to work on this campaign and to meet all the entrants - and we're excited to start working with Snap Fashion very soon! With more projects like this, with more corporate buy in and support, I'm sure the UK will be back on top of the tech map in no time.

 

By @KeBeveridge

Well, what can we say? So far, the London 2012 Olympic Games has been outstanding and Team GB has knocked the socks off our expectations! It's been raining gold, silver and bronze and has been quite a show to watch.

So - we've been having a little think here at Octopus Towers about what moments of London 2012 stick out for us so far, and here's just a few that cropped up:

 

Mo Farah winning the 10,000. I was with him every step and cried like a baby when he crossed the line to take gold - @emvicw

 

Usain Bolt's 'lightning' impression after winning the 100m - really sticks in my mind as it's so uplifting, if a bit showy - @jenhannajackson

 

Without a doubt, *that* Saturday night in the Olympic Stadium when GB won three gold medals - @stevelspencer

 

When German discus thrower Robert Harting celebrated winning gold by ripping off his shirt and running around the track like an absolute boss - @Joemjohnston

 

Mo Farah winning the 10k - I literally had goosebumps and even now when I think about it I get all emotional! - @Kelrams

 

'WE'RE GOING TO BE ON A STAMP!' - @1katiepotts

 

BBC interview with Bert Le Clos - @stephendssmith

 

I loved the men's team gymnastics. I had no idea that Team GB were so strong - Dan Purvis and Kristian Thomas in particular have some moves! - @rebeccataylorpr

 

Team GB Show jumpers winning gold - which managed to transform the office into a crowd of equestrian enthusiasts!

Also the *attempted* BBC interview with 15 year old Lithuanian swimmer Ruta Meilutyte after she won gold in 100m breaststroke, where (she was so overcome she couldn't even speak! - @kellyannsmith3

 

Jess Ennis winning Gold - she is an amazing athlete and role model for the future generation, and in my mind, represents everything that is great about Britain! - @Lauraslade

 

Finding the show jumping 'jump off' oddly fascinating - who knew that ponies larking around over gates could be so utterly compelling and nerve wracking? - @wonky_donky

 

What about you? What's had you screaming or laughing out loud at your TV? Let us know in the comments - we'd love to hear from you!

Jodie @jodslake

Yesterday marked a huge milestone in the countdown to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games - only 100 days left to go!

I don't know about you, but here at the Octopus Group, we are getting more than a little bit excited about this historic event hitting our capital city, and we'll certainly be making the most of it across the Group.

Now that the Games are within touching distance, businesses across the UK are provided with an ideal platform to introduce an employee engagement strategy that may have been lacking before, or to support what they already have in place. We  might not all be able to attend the London 2012 Olympic Games, but that doesn't mean you can't bring a little Olympic team spirit into the work place to celebrate together does it?

We are all busy people, and if you're part of a bigger team at work, you may struggle to even get to see or speak to them all that often - I mean, that's what email and social media are for right?

Wrong! We are all important assets to the businesses that we work for and the upcoming Games provide us with the perfect excuse to get together as a team and bring back a sense of community.

Whether you are interested in sport or not, there are so many great and affordable ways that you can get involved in team activities. Take us here at Octopus Towers for example - amongst other things, we've created a dedicated taskforce to make sure everyone can get involved somehow. We'll have the Games streamed live in our offices to make sure we don't miss any exciting Team GB action, we'll be keeping everyone up to date with regular Olympic breaking news, stats and facts AND (we couldn't let this opportunity go by without a little bit of cake action now could we?) we'll be holding the Great Olympic Bake Off!

Let's not forget that the Olympic torch is also going to be making its way across the UK before reaching London, so even if your work place is based outside of the Capital - why not take an hour or so to go and watch the Torch pass through your local area? We'll certainly be lining the streets of Windsor and Southwark to take in the Olympic excitement! Maybe we'll see you there... J

Events like this don't come around too often, so make the most of it and get involved!

Jodie @jodslake

As I approach the official London 2012 white water course in my private minibus I focus my mind on the task ahead. Today I will be tackling the Olympic white water rafting course and, with a gold medal in my sights, I know I'm going to have to bring my A-game.

I look out across the water, the bright sunshine streaming across the, as yet, untouched course. In final preparation for the morning's activities I lift the apple custard Danish pastry to my mouth and gobble it down in record time. I have a feeling it's going to be a record breaking day.

The clock strikes 9:00 and my team mates begin to arrive; BBC News Online, London Metro, ITN, Computer Weekly, Computing, Data Centre Management, thedatachain - we're like Team GB, only better. Then in walks our captain, Tim Brabants. Olympian, gold medallist, Cisco ambassador and emergency room doctor (I know, right?!), this is just the man to lead our motley crew to glory.

Unfortunately, we're not quite Olympic ready… not yet. We are in fact all gathered for a Cisco press event to learn about how, as official network infrastructure provider, it plans to ensure the integrity of the network for London 2012. The men delivering the presentation are so intrinsic to the running of the Olympic Games I can't even name them. So, you know, pretty standard stuff!

We spend an hour learning about just how mind-blowingly intricate and awesome the London 2012 network is going to be. 80,000 connections across 94 locations, 65,000 active network ports and over 20,000 hours of network testing before the Games even begin! Then, brain-workout complete, we head downstairs for the first of our physical tests - getting into our wetsuits (and subsequently breathing in for two hours).

Exhausted, we step out into the courtyard to meet our instructor. A few safety instructions later and we are ready to hit the water. Observing the universal rule of not looking below the waist of a person in a wetsuit, we all walk toward the course, looking skywards, feet squelching in our damp booties. I imagine this is just like the Olympics.

On the water our first task is to row forwards. We nail it. Unfortunately, there is more than one stroke to learn… but after rowing in circles for a few minutes we have a quick race with Tim (we win) and then find the start of the course. This is it. We practice our paddle high fives and then we're off..!

If the ocean is a fickle mistress, then truly the rapids are her rabid, feral children. We are thrown about, spun, flipped, splashed and soaked. We scream, laugh, choke and splutter. And then disaster - the water gets the best of us and we are flung from our vessel with dramatic force.

If you had told me a month ago that almost drowning journalists and clients would make for such a great day out I'd have laughed in your face. However, it turns out swallowing all the water in the River Lee and scrambling over one another to get to the shore is the BEST fun. PRs, journalists and Cisco execs bonded and happy, we all walk into the sunset, safe in the knowledge we could probably achieve a gold medal if we really wanted to…

Kirstin